diff --git a/composables/ws.ts b/composables/ws.ts
index 0501a05..01db40f 100644
--- a/composables/ws.ts
+++ b/composables/ws.ts
@@ -1,12 +1,19 @@
+import type { NuxtError } from "#app";
+
 export type WebSocketCallback = (message: string) => void;
+export type WebSocketErrorHandler = (error: NuxtError<unknown>) => void;
 
 export class WebSocketHandler {
   private listeners: Array<WebSocketCallback> = [];
+
   private outQueue: Array<string> = [];
   private inQueue: Array<string> = [];
+
   private ws: WebSocket | undefined = undefined;
   private connected: boolean = false;
 
+  private errorHandler: WebSocketErrorHandler | undefined = undefined;
+
   constructor(route: string) {
     if (import.meta.server) return;
     const isSecure = location.protocol === "https:";
@@ -22,6 +29,18 @@ export class WebSocketHandler {
 
     this.ws.onmessage = (e) => {
       const message = e.data;
+      switch (message) {
+        case "unauthenticated":
+          const error = createError({
+            statusCode: 403,
+            statusMessage: "Unable to connect to websocket - unauthenticated",
+          });
+          if (this.errorHandler) {
+            return this.errorHandler(error);
+          } else {
+            throw error;
+          }
+      }
       if (this.listeners.length == 0) {
         this.inQueue.push(message);
         return;
@@ -33,6 +52,10 @@ export class WebSocketHandler {
     };
   }
 
+  error(handler: WebSocketErrorHandler) {
+    this.errorHandler = handler;
+  }
+
   listen(callback: WebSocketCallback) {
     this.listeners.push(callback);
   }
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 6910905..1ac0d8b 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@
     "@prisma/client": "5.20.0",
     "axios": "^1.7.7",
     "bcryptjs": "^2.4.3",
+    "cookie-es": "^1.2.2",
     "fast-fuzzy": "^1.12.0",
     "file-type-mime": "^0.4.3",
     "jdenticon": "^3.3.0",
diff --git a/server/api/v1/task/index.get.ts b/server/api/v1/task/index.get.ts
index b5da1b8..5716c6e 100644
--- a/server/api/v1/task/index.get.ts
+++ b/server/api/v1/task/index.get.ts
@@ -2,26 +2,30 @@ import { H3Event } from "h3";
 import session from "~/server/internal/session";
 import { v4 as uuidv4 } from "uuid";
 import taskHandler, { TaskMessage } from "~/server/internal/tasks";
+import { parse as parseCookies } from "cookie-es";
 
 // TODO add web socket sessions for horizontal scaling
 // ID to admin
 const adminSocketSessions: { [key: string]: boolean } = {};
 
 export default defineWebSocketHandler({
-  open(peer) {
-    const dummyEvent = {
-      node: {
-        req: {
-          headers: peer.request?.headers,
-        },
-      },
-    } as unknown as H3Event;
-    const userId = session.getUserId(dummyEvent);
+  async open(peer) {
+    const cookies = peer.request?.headers?.get("Cookie");
+    if (!cookies) {
+      peer.send("unauthenticated");
+      return;
+    }
+
+    const parsedCookies = parseCookies(cookies);
+    const token = parsedCookies[session.getDropTokenCookie()];
+
+    const userId = await session.getUserIdRaw(token);
     if (!userId) {
       peer.send("unauthenticated");
       return;
     }
-    const admin = session.getAdminUser(dummyEvent);
+    
+    const admin = session.getAdminUser(token);
     adminSocketSessions[peer.id] = admin !== undefined;
 
     const rtMsg: TaskMessage = {
diff --git a/server/internal/session/index.ts b/server/internal/session/index.ts
index 51c04ff..ec9cf96 100644
--- a/server/internal/session/index.ts
+++ b/server/internal/session/index.ts
@@ -43,6 +43,10 @@ export class SessionHandler {
     return token;
   }
 
+  getDropTokenCookie() {
+    return dropTokenCookie;
+  }
+
   async getSession<T extends Session>(h3: H3Event) {
     const token = this.getSessionToken(h3);
     if (!token) return undefined;